Legends of Konoha
by hunter994x
Summary: Naruto, now age 19, has become a famous shinobi and Pokemon Trainer. He's changed. Why did he change? And soon, a new hero and his friends will rise. Can they rise to the challenge? AU: Minato, Kushina. and Neji are still alive, Serious and smart Naruto, Sasuke never left, more high-tech world. Note: Many OCs and Pokemon can know more than 4 moves.
1. Chapter 1: Shadow

**Chapter 1: Shadow.**

**For a long time, people and Pokémon have interacted and this has been true for Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto, now age 19, has become a famous shinobi and Pokémon Trainer. However, he's changed. No longer is Naruto among his friends in the Hidden Leaf Village. He is now someone his old friends would not even recognize. Why is Naruto this way now? And is he a friend or foe? And how will his friends react to his change?**

**...**

A mysterious black mansion far from any town or city. The mansion is a large one with many windows and a front and back door. A private garden, filled with flowers of all colors, sits outside in the front. A large park-like arena and a brown battlefield sits behind the mansion. The mansion is quiet. Circular and rectangular lights bright up the rooms and hallways. Large paintings of various Pokémon such as Dragonite, Milotic, and Meloetta can be seen throughout the rooms and hallways. No noises are heard. It's like no one lives here. But someone does live here.

...

At a large, well-lit room, in the center, lies a large, brownish desk. The desk has several brown chairs surrounding it. At the front end of the desk is a larger chair. Sitting in the larger chair is a man. The man is wearing a blue helmet and a blue mask. He is wearing a light blue suit and light blue pants. This man is the owner and resident of this building. The man sits with his hands on the table thinking to himself. His extremely calm demeanor gives off an intimidating vibe. Also, sitting at the table is a girl. She has long, elbow length, blue hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a sky blue sleeveless shirt, sky blue pants, and shoes. She looks at the man at the larger chair with a nervous look in her eyes and a nervous expression in general. She begins to speak but cannot look at him. "Sir…" She says. "I-I'm sorry but I couldn't find…"

The man notices her nervous demeanor and is calm and polite. "Do not worry about it." The man says. "Shadow will turn up eventually. Let him have some time to himself. After all, he has gone through a change."

The girl starts to calm down after hearing the man words. She looks directly at him. "Thank you for not being mad, sir."

The main remains calm and polite. "I have no reason to get mad at you. After all, you brought Shadow to us. And he has been a fine addition to the team, Mizumi. As are you. Your tracking skills are excellent."

Mizumi smiles at this. "Thank you sir." Her expression changes to a serious one. "By the way, where are Koji and Kyota?"

Suddenly, the door opens. A person with brown, spiky hair and brown eyes wearing a dark brown short sleeve shirt, dark brown pants, and shoes walks in. He has a smirk on his face. "I dunno about Kyota but Koji's here. That being me of course."

Both the man and Mizumi look at Koji. The man remains calm and doesn't say a word. Mizumi has confused look on her face. "Have you seen Shadow anywhere?"

Koji shrugs as he looks at both the man and Mizumi. "Nah, I haven't seen him or Kyota anywhere. Kyota may have gone to look for Shadow or happened to see him as he was coming back and took a detour. "

...

Meanwhile, just outside the Hidden Leaf Village, a person stands there looking into the distance at the village. This person is standing out in the open in the middle of the day. Trees stand behind him. A flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto led by a Pidgeot fly overheard heading from the village towards the trees. The person standing here has blue eyes and is wearing a black jacket with a hood with said hood on, a black mask to conceal his face, black shoes, and black pants. He gives off a menacing vibe as he coldly stares at the Village. He remains calm and collected. "The Hidden Leaf Village….while I still have respect for it, I have a new teacher now…..and I have new friends now…but…" Suddenly, he's interrupted by another person running towards him. This person has black eyes and has black, spiky hair. He is wearing a gray sleeveless shirt, a gray cape, gray pants, and black shoes. He has an angry look on his face.

"Come on! You can't just run off like that!" The person wearing a cape says in an angry tone. The person wearing a mask turns around and stares coldly at the person wearing a cape. The person wearing a cape sees the glare and becomes terrified. He starts to shake with a terrified expression on his face and the look of terror on his eyes. But, instead of getting angry, the masked ninja in black says: "Sorry to run off like that, Kyota." The masked ninja in black says. "I was….feeling a bit nostalgic for the Leaf Village…"

Kyota calms down and stops shaking. He then smirks at the masked ninja. "Nostalgic?" He asks. "Ha! I never knew you had that side to you!" He jokingly remarks. His smirk then turns serious. "At least, not the way you are now….Naruto."

Naruto remains calm. "I told you to call me Shadow while we're outside. Someone could be nearby. And that someone could even be…one of them." Unbeknownst to either of them, a mysterious ninja has spotted them. Curious, he hides in one of the trees and watches them.

Kyota shrugs. "You're the legendary Naruto Uzumaki and you're worried about those losers?!" He tauntingly asks with a smirk on his face. "Come on, they're probably shaking in fear of you right now!"

"Actually, they're probably out trying to figure out where I went." Naruto remarks. He then walks right past Kyota but then stops. "We should probably get going before..." Naruto suddenly stops. He glances over to one of the trees. "I don't know when you got there but come out and show yourself."

Kyota has a shocked look on his face and his eyes widen. "W-what?!"

Naruto remains calm. "I'm not one hundred percent sure but I have the feeling we have a guest. And if he or she does not want to show themselves, I have a buddy that will make them." Naruto opens a pouch which is concealed by the jacket and takes a Poke Ball out of it. He presses the Poke Ball's button on the front of it to make it larger. "Come on out." Naruto calmly says as he presses the button again to let his Pokémon out. After the Pokémon is let out of the Poke Ball, it looks straight up and lets out a menacing roar. The Pokémon is a blue dragon with red wings, a long tail, and a white belly. It glares directly at the tree where Naruto suspects the ninja is concealing themselves in. The Pokémon's eyes and expression also have a ferocious look to them. Naruto remains calm but smirks under his mask. "If you heard our conversation, I'm sure you heard my real name. And if you have heard of me, I'm sure you're familiar with my buddy Salamence. So, what will it be?"

After what feels like a long time of silence, the mysterious ninja finally speaks. "So, it really is you, Naruto."

Salamence's eyes change from a ferocious look to a surprised look. His trainer, on the other hand, does not show any reaction. No shocked look. Nothing. He remains calm. "So, it's you…Sasuke."

The ninja in the tree comes down and lands in front of Naruto and Salamence. It is indeed Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke looks directly at Naruto. "It's…been sometime. Naruto."

An angry expression comes over Kyota's face. He rolls both of his hands into a fist. "Hey, who do you think you are eavesdropping on us like that?!" Kyota angrily shouts.

Sasuke remains calm and smirks. "I should be asking you why you are outside the village. Naruto I can understand but last time I checked, you're not from around here."

Kyota gets even angrier. "Hey, if you gotta problem, let's settle it here and now!" Kyota reaches into a pouch and takes out a Poke Ball. He presses the button on the front of the Poke Ball to make it larger. Kyota then glares at Sasuke. "Are you scared? Face me and my Pokémon!"

Sasuke is still smirking. "Well, if you insist. But, you need to learn a lesson." Sasuke opens one of the two pouches he carries, takes out a Poke Ball, and closes the pouch. He presses the button on the front of the Poke Ball to make it larger. "You sure you wanna do this?"

Before Kyota can say anything, Naruto intervenes. He gives Sasuke a cold stare. Sasuke's expression turns to shock and he even backs away a little. "His stare….it's cold. How can this be Naruto?" He thinks to himself as he looks at Naruto.

Naruto remains calm. "Sasuke, we didn't come here to fight. Besides, this is not the best place to battle. But, if you insist, Salamence here will gladly accept your challenge. Right, buddy?" Salamence responds to Naruto's words with a ferocious roar. He then ferociously glares at Sasuke while still roaring lightly. "You should recall the first time you faced Salamence quite well. After all, I defeated you in front of the entire class after he evolved from Shelgon. Now, do you want a repeat of what happened back them? With the exception being me defeating you with ease, of course." Naruto coldly, confidently, and tauntingly remarks.

"I've gotten a lot stronger since then. You should recall that quite well since you were on the same team as me." Sasuke remarks as he puts the Poke Ball back into the pouch. "And it hasn't been that long since you left."

"Should I?" Naruto coldly remarks. "Or did you turn into a loser but you're just hiding it? After all, I saw that last battle you had on television. Try actually battling next time, Sasuke. Maybe then, I'll recall."

Sasuke becomes even more shocked at this and his eyes widen. "You…you aren't the same anymore…"

"Of course I'm not." Naruto replies. "And no, it's not because of any of you. There was another reason I left."

Sasuke's expression returns to a calm one. "Then, what was the reason?"

"Like I'd tell you that." Naruto tauntingly remarks.

Sasuke becomes angry and he rolls his hands into fists. "You really aren't the same anymore! You better tell me why!" Sasuke shouts at Naruto.

"Or what?" Naruto coldly remarks. Naruto pauses for a moment. Then, he turns away from Sasuke."You aren't worth my time. But, if you insist, we'll battle next time. But somewhere else." Naruto starts to walk. "Salamence. Kyota. Come."

Kyota puts the Poke Ball back into the pouch. He looks at Sasuke and then looks back at Naruto. He then runs after Naruto. "I'm coming!"

Sasuke places his hand out and steps forward. "Wait, Naruto!" Sasuke yells. However, Salamence gets in front of him and glares at him with a ferocious look and roars lightly. Sasuke stops with a slight look of terror and shock on his face and his eyes widen in slight fear. Salamence then turns around and flies towards Naruto and lands next to him and walks right beside him. Sasuke calms down and looks at the trio as the walk further and further away. "He's changed a lot…for her sake, I hope she does not see this…but, it would be wrong to not tell her." Sasuke turns around and heads for the Leaf Village. As he's walking, he thinks to himself. "How can that be the same Naruto? He's so different, it's like he's a completely different person."

...

Later, in the Leaf Village, Sasuke meets the girl he was referring to, Sazumi, outside of a brownish building. The building is not too big or too small and has a gray front door and a window left and right of the door. The large, gray sign above the door has the words Pokémon Trainer Supplies printed in dark blue on it. Customers walk in and out of the store as Sasuke and Sazumi are talking. Sazumi is a 19 year old girl with long, elbow length, black hair and light blue eyes. She wears a black sleeveless shirt under a black, sleeveless vest. She wears black pants and sandals. The Leaf Headband is worn on her forehead. Sazumi looks sadly at the store. Her eyes look like she's about to shed tears. "I-I can't believe you…what you said…I can't believe that Naruto would change like that." Sazumi sadly replies as she looks at the store.

"Don't worry." Sasuke replies. "We'll find out what happened that caused him to change. To be honest, I want to know why as well."

Sazumi still looks sad and turns to look at Sasuke. "I'll help as well. I want to know why. And I want to see him again…"

Sasuke looks at the store as he thinks about what to say. Without looking at her, he says: "His stare….was cold. Really cold. It…was menacing. Almost…terrifying. "

Sazumi still looks sad. "And if what you said is true, in such a short time, his entire personality changed…"

Sasuke has a stern look on his face now and he looks at Sazumi. "Don't tell the others about this. Ok?"

Sazumi is still looking at Sasuke with a sad look on her face. "Ok." She replies. "But, I'm goning to get to the bottom of this. He couldn't have just changed on a whim."

...

Meanwhile, Naruto, Kyota, and Naruto's Salamence are still walking through the forest. Various Pokémon can be seen roaming around. A flock of Starly and Staravia fly overhead. Pokémon like Mankey jump from tree branch to tree branch. A Nidoking and Nidoqueen watch Naruto, Kyota, and Naruto's Salamence as they walk by the two Pokémon. Naruto remains calm while Kyota has a confused look on his face. "Hey, Naruto…about Sasuke…and that Sakura person you mentioned…"

"Sakura and Sasuke were friends of mine back in the Hidden Leaf Village." Naruto replies. "I had more you still have yet to meet."

Kyota has a confused look on his face. "Huh? Others?"

"Actually, you, Mizumi, and Koji may have already encountered them on other missions." Naruto replied. ""The last mission where we sent to free Pokémon captured by Team Rocket….those 3 ninja that assisted us…they were among them. Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara."

Kyota stops in his tracks and a shocked expression comes over his face and his eyes widen. Salamence stops as well but remains calm.

"Why didn't you say anything?! They're probably looking for you as well!" Kyota yells.

Naruto stops in front of Kyota. He turns around and maintains his calm demeanor. "I have my reasons. Why did you two stop? Come on, let's keep going." Naruto turns back around and continues walking. His Salamence follows him. Kyota follows the two as well.

Meanwhile, at an unknown, dark blue, building far from both the mansion and the Leaf Village, people are inside. The building is a large one with a front and back door and several windows. Inside one large room in the building is what appears to be an office setting. There is a black deck at the back of the room but with enough space for a large, black chair to be located behind the desk and also enough room for someone to sit in and have enough room. Other smaller chairs are at the opposite end of the desk. Sitting in the large chair is a mysterious man in a white suit. Standing on the other side of the desk are a man and a womann white helmets and black and white uniforms. The man sitting down looks at them with a stern look. He places his hands on the desk. "So, anything?"

The two look at each other and look back at the man at the suit. "Nothing, sir." The man says. "We have several teams searching though."

The man in the suit remains calm but firm. "Find that Pokémon. If you can't find it, I will find it. Do I make myself clear?"

Both the man and the woman appear slightly terrified. "Y-yes sir!" woman says.

"Good." The man in the suit replies. "Because…Cipher will not lose to those Rockets. Remember that."

The man and woman proceed to head out the door. The man closes the door behind them. The man in the suit is still sitting down. He says to himself: "And if Mozori Inazuma wants to, he can come stop me himself."

...

End of Chapter 1.

Again, any feedback/criticism/etc is appreciated. I want to know what you think and if there is anything I can improve on.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Hero Rises

**Note: The "new hero and friends" were mentioned in the summary but did not appear in the first episode. I apologize for that. **

**Note #2: I dunno about pairings yet. I have no plans for any pairing between canon characters though.**

**Note #3: This took some time. I apologize for that as well.**

**Chapter 2: A New Hero Rises**

A young boy stands outside of a tan-colored building in the Hidden Leaf Village. A slight breeze blows to the east. The boy has short, brown hair and light green eyes. He is wearing a dark red short sleeved shirt and pants. He is also wearing sandals and is wearing the Leaf Headband on his forehead. The boy leans against the building which has a door and 2 windows on opposite sides of the building and a brown sign with dark green lettering reads Trainer Café on it. The boy puts his hand over his mouth and yawns. "Man, where's sensei?" The boy says as he yawns. "I don't want to wait. We should just go inside."

Standing next to the boy is a black haired boy and a red haired girl. The girl looks at the brown-haired boy and has a serious expression on her face.

"Calm down, Naoki." The girl says as she looks at the boy. "You got here earlier than us. Besides, we just ate and drank here. Don't you remember that?"

"Yeah, but I got all this energy!" Naoki yells out loud. He stops leaning against the building, extends his right arm out in front of him, and rolls a fist with his right hand. "I'm ready for what sensei has ready for us!"

The girl puts a hand on her hip and smirks. "Maybe you can use that energy to teach yourself you can't match Naruto." She says jokingly as she looks at Naoki with a teasing look and smirk. Naoki is sometimes jokingly teased by her about becoming as good as Naruto one day.

The black-haired boy glances over at the two with his dark brown eyes. "Come on, Yukita. Let Naoki have his ridiculous goal. Naruto-sensei is a big role model to a lot of ninja and trainers our age." The black-haired boy says as he calmly talks to the two while fixing the left sleeve on his silver long sleeved shirt. He then folds his arms, closes his eyes, and teasingly smirks. "And I doubt Naoki meant eat again. We had to get 4 orders JUST to fill him up in the first place. "

Yukita closes her eyes and laughs while an angry expression is the look on Naoki's face. "Hey!" Naoki yells as he stares at the second boy. "I need the energy! Naruto would say the same thing!"

"Naruto would go get ramen not dumplings." Yukita jokes with a smile on her face with her eyes still closed. "Right, Akira?"

"Man, you guys are just mean." Naoki says as he folds his arms and pouts.

"Oh come on, we were just joking." Yukita says while still smiling. "Well, I don't know about Akira but I was."

Akira opens his eyes and does not look happy. "Oh right, say I wasn't messing around when I mentioned the dumplings when both the things I said were true." Akira sarcastically groans as he rolls his eyes and his arms still folded.

"Hello." A female voice calls out from an unknown location. Naoki, Yukita, and Akira immediately stop talking and turn their attention to the voice. A pink-haired ninja is walking towards them with a smile on her face. Naoki immediately gets excited and smiles. "Sakura-sensei!"

Sakura glances at each one of them. "All of you are here. Well then, let's get to work."

"Alright, I'm ready." Naoki replies as his expression changes to a serious, confident smile.

Yukita's expression changes to a serious expression too but she is not smiling. "Anything on Naruto, Sakura-sensei?"

Sakura turns away from her team and glances at the sky with sad look on her face. "No. nothing. And if Sazumi knows anything, she isn't talking."

Yukita has a disappointed look on her face. A disheartened feeling comes over her. "I thought he would appear to at least a few people he knew by now."

Akira is surprised at Yukita's reaction. He turns to look at her. "I thought you would be sadder than that. You don't even know where he is."

Yukita gets angry at this remark. "What are you trying to say?!" Yukita yells at Akira. "Naruto will kick anyone's butt that tries to mess with him! He's fine! I have a reason to be disappointed but Naruto can take care of himself! Don't underestimate him, ok?!"

Sakura approaches Yukita , kneels down, and places a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Yukita. Calm down. I'm sure Naruto is out there somewhere. "

Yukita glaces up at Sakura and smiles. "Thanks, sensei."

Sakura smiles and takes her hand off of Yukita's shoulder. She stands back up and folds her arms. "Ok, you three. Today, you're going to help Sasuke and me on a mission involving Team Rocket." Let me explain the mission."

…

Far from the Leaf Village, Naruto is standing outside a shed-like building. The building has just one door and no windows on the front side. Trees and bushes surround the shed and in one tree, Salamence is watching for any potential trap or anyone else. Salamence's ferocious looking eyes glance left to right at the area around the shed as the Pokémon looks for any sign of trouble. Naruto stares up and down at the building. "According to reports, Team Rocket is storing some equipment here." Naruto says out loud as he folds his arms. "If we can get some of the equipment, we might be able to learn something. Nobody seems to be around. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try and…" Naruto is interrupted by a rustling noise in the bushes behind him. Then, two Team Rocket Grunts appear from the bushes. The grunts have on black uniforms with the red R on the front. It is at this moment the Salamence leaves the free and flies towards Naruto. He lands right next to his trainer facing the two Team Rocket Grunts. Salamence growls at the grunts and takes a fighting stance. However, Naruto does not turn around. "I don't know who you are but, you're in for a world of hurt if you don't get lost." One of the grunts remarks with a smirk on his face and his eyes fixed at Naruto and Salamence. Naruto does not respond nor turns around. "What's the matter? Too scared to move?!" The other grunt tauntingly remarks with a smirk on his face.

At this moment, Naruto does turn around to face the grunts. His expression has changed from a cold stare to an angry, menacing one. Salamence roars angrily at this and almost looks like he's going to charge the grunts. Naruto notices that Salamence looks like he's about to attack. "Make sure you don't harm anything else. Other than that, get them, buddy." Salamence approaches the Team Rocket grunts and they back up as Salamence approaches. "What's the matter? Too scared to fight?" Naruto tauntingly remarks. Salamence continues to force the Team Rocket grunts to back up until their backs are up against a tree. Salamence glares at them with an angry and ferocious expression and roars. The two grunts take off running.

Naruto does not say a word as he turns back around and approaches the door to the shed. As he looks at the door, he does not notice anything out of the ordinary. It seems like a regular shed. Naruto grabs the door handle and discovers the door is open. He then slowly and carefully opens the door. Naruto looks inside to see if anyone is there and does not spot anyone. "The coast seems to be clear. Salamence, stand guard as I check this out." Salamence roars in response and walks closer to the door. Naruto goes inside the shed and discovers it is nearly empty. Naruto looks around and he sees nothing on the crates, shelves, or on the floor. However, as he looks around, he notices a medium size piece of paper sitting on a desk in the middle of the shed. He walks closer to the desk and realizes the paper is a written blueprint for something. Naruto looks at the writing on the paper. Naruto studies and reads the paper. As he studies it, his eyes widen in shock. "It can't be…this writing….this isn't a Team Rocket storage shed at all…..Team Rocket must have tried to get into this shed for something like this. This shed belongs to…" Naruto is interrupted by Salamence's roaring. He turns around and sees Salamence in a ready to attack position. He notices that 3 people are standing outside the shed. 2 are wearing sliver outfits and the third is wearing a silver suit. "Well, how nice of you to drop in, Shadow", the man in the silver suit says.

Naruto turns around and looks at the trio. "This plan is high risk but highly organized. If it's not Team Rocket, there is only one other group capable of this plan…Cipher. And I'm assuming you wrote this plan as well, Cipher Admin Kotaro Odosu!"

"I'm honored that you remember my name." Kotaro remarks. "But, I'm afraid your snooping around will have to end here."

"So, tell me again how a former Champion ended up as a notorious member of Cipher." Naruto remarks.

"Hmmm…well, something disgraceful happened. So now, I'm a member of Cipher. " Kotaro says as he scratches his brown hair. Kotaro then glares at Naruto with a serious look. "But enough of that. Get out or I'll have to make you."

Naruto smirks under his mask. "Heh heh heh….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I missed the joke." Kotaro remarks.

"Ha ha. Do you honestly think you and your pathetic goons can stop me?!" Naruto tauntingly remarks. "Ha ha ha, have you ever considering quitting Cipher and becoming a comedian, Kotaro?"

"Why you…" Kotaro angrily replies. "I'll teach you a lesson!"

"Who says I'm gonna fight?" Naruto remarks. "I got what I need right here." Naruto grabs the blueprint from the desk. "Later." Naruto suddenly disappears in a mist of chakra. At the same time, Salamence takes off in flight. Kotaro walks over to the desk and angrily slams his fist on the desk. "I can't believe this! I didn't think anyone would even consider this to be a Cipher Storage Shed! It just looks like a normal shed! Even though it was an older blueprint for a plan, the goal was still the same as the revised plan!" Kotaro calms down and then smirks. "Too bad for him as he didn't find the secret passage to a major Cipher HQ building. Or the other blueprints stored here. Heh heh heh."

…

Salamence is flying over the forest looking for his trainer. He spots his trainer in a less dense part of the forest. Salamence flies downward and lands next to his trainer. Naruto glances at him. "Sorry about the sudden leave I did. But, it was part of the plan to meet up in this area if I had to do that. Anyway, we got other things to deal with." Naruto focus his attention on what's front of him. Or rather, who is in front of him. Salamence is shocked at who the person is. "Sazumi. It's been sometime." Naruto remarks.

Sazumi stares at him with a sad look. "I didn't want to believe it at first so I had to seek you out to confirm this. And what a surprise. I was not even excepting to encounter you so easily, Naruto."

Naruto pauses for a moment. Then, he proceeds to reach for his mask and takes it off surprising both his Salamence and Sazumi. With his full face revealed, he stares at Sazumi. "I assume Sasuke told you?"

"That's right." Sazumi says as her long, black hair blows in the wind. "Are you mad about this?"

"No." Naruto responds as he puts his mask back on. "I'm not."

Sazumi takes out a medium sized rectangular locket from a pocket and opens it. Inside is a picture of Naruto and Sazumi from a few months before Naruto left. Sazumi looks at the picture. "To think you'd become this. You're like a totally different person now, Naruto."

Naruto looks up at the sky as a flock of Starly and Starvia fly by above. "It's a diverse habitat around here. You got all sorts of Pokémon around here." Naruto looks back at Sazumi. "You said I'm like a totally different person now. Yes, I have changed. But, some things have not changed." Naruto glances over at Salamence and Salamence glances back with a smirk.

Sazumi hesitates for a second as she does not know how to respond. Then, a smile comes over her face. "Even though you have changed, I'm glad to see you're doing well. And I assume that thing in your hand is some important paper."

"Yep." Naruto replies. "It's some sort of Cipher blueprint. I'm taking to get it checked out. Anyway , I should get going. I don't want to keep the others waiting. Later." Naruto turns around and takes off with Salamence following behind him. Sazumi's smile changes to a sad look again. "I'm happy to see him again but, what happened to him? And why won't he return to the village?"

…

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Sakura is meeting up with Naoki, Yukita, and Akira. Yukita and Akira have a shocked expression on their faces while Naoki is seething with anger. "WHAT?!" Naoki yells. "ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME THE MISSION IS CANCELLED BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE BEAT US TO THE WAREHOUSE?!"

"Calm down Naoki." Sakura replies. "We don't know what happened but I was called to the Hokage Office earlier. Sasuke was already there and he said that a report came in saying that the warehouse was already attacked by someone. A girl named Mizumi apparently. Other shinobi closer to the area were sent there to check it out."

"This warehouse attack kind of sounds like the work of Shadow." Akira replies. "You sure it isn't him?"

"I'm sure." Sakura replies. Speaking of which, I asked the Hokage if we could change missions since other ninja are investigating the warehouse incident. He said yes. Now, we're going to find some clues on this Shadow and his associates. If Shadow really does work for Mozori Inzuma, then Mizumi is one of his associates."

"Aw man, I wanted to kick some Rocket goon butt besides Greninja. This sucks." Naoki groans as he folds his arms and pouts. "Eh, I wanted to know more about Shadow anyway."

"As do I." Yukita remarks. "He's a mysterious guy for sure."

Sakura looks at all three of her students and smiles. "All right then, let's go!"

"Yeah, let's do this!" Naoki yells and he jumps in the air with excitement.

Sakura looks towards the sky. "And maybe I'll find something in regards to Naruto." She thinks to herself.

…

To be continued…

…

End of Chapter 2.

Feedback/criticism is greatly appreciated.


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